Our Mission

I'm Louise Fletcher. As President of Blue Sky Resumes my mission is to help people take charge of their job search, build confidence and advance their careers. I founded Career Hub to further that mission by connecting job seekers with the best minds in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

I'm Chandlee Bryan. As a career coach and resume writer with experience from Manhattan to Main Street, I help job seekers connect with opportunity by sharing news, trends and best practices. I'm the Managing Editor of Career Hub and run Best Fit Forward, a boutique career management firm.

These facts came to my attention as the result of reading “Building Windmills in the Green Economy” by Dr. Janet E. Wall in the most recent NCDA Career Developments publication (Winter 2009). Her article is available to NCDA members exclusively.

Dr. Wall’s background as a career development expert, O*NET consultant, and one of the founders of the first Earth Day in Texas, demonstrates her experience and passion about career development and green careers. Her comprehensive article is a goldmine of green jobs information.

For example, she reports that the greening economy will directly impact the further development of existing occupations, as well as the emergence of new occupations, most consistently in 12 industrial sectors, such as Renewable Energy Generation, Transportation, Green Construction, Agriculture and Forestry, Environmental Protection, and Government and Regulatory Administration. Resources she cites include the Green Jobs Guidebook by the Environmental Defense Fund, The Occupational Outlook Quarterly (Summer 2009 issue), and the US Department of Labor’s Career Voyages green jobs portal.

Reporting about green jobs and useful resources is also close to my heart, especially since I grew up on a farm where recycling and “green” job tasks were abundant. In addition, as a professional career counselor, I have encouraged career development and career management based on being knowledgeable about yourself and future careers. With the fast pace of change, those future careers could be right around the corner for many of you!

As we wait for the ball to drop in Times Square and hope for a better job market in 2010, I’m hitting the pause button…and taking a quick look at the last 12 months. Clearly, these were not the easiest of times in the labor market—but I’ve watched a lot of people land great jobs. Over the course of the year, I reviewed over 200 resumes from job seekers across the U.S. during a stint as a resume reviewer for Microsoft; I spoke with job applicants at employer fairs and facilitated a job seekers group in New York City. In the process, I saw many success stories.

Here are seven strategies that I’ve seen work in 2009.

1. Writing resumes for the “electronic eye.” As many online applications are read by scanning technologies before they are viewed by humans, start your resume with a summary of keywords and phrases that line up with job qualifications.

2. Looking in the mirror. While some make fun of the “ego search,” it’s important to know what employers will find when the “Google” your name—in an ExecuNet Survey, 86% of executive recruiters said they conduct online research of candidates. At best, your online presence can lead to new job opportunities. The worst-case scenario? Your candidacy could get eliminated based on your digital dirt.

Tip: Use William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson’s Online ID Calculator to assess your Google results; ideally, you want your first two page results to include a professional summary—e.g. your LinkedIn profile.

3. Being picky (to some degree). The phrase “I’ll do anything” should be left with Oliver Twist. Unless you really are happy performing the tasks in “50 Jobs Worse than Yours,” be clear about the types of work you can do well. When you put your best strengths, experience, and interests forward—you have a greater chance of being hired for a role in which the employer’s needs align with your strengths.

Tip: When applying for a job, show that you understand what the position entails—and ask questions that demonstrate you’ve given some thought to the specific position and hiring organization.

4. An appealing LinkedIn profile. As LinkedIn has a high search ranking, there’s a strong chance that your LinkedIn profile will be the first thing employers see when they Google your name. Spend as much time on your LinkedIn profile as you do your resume—it’s a great place for prospective hiring managers to assess your writing, interpersonal, and communications skills. My “top-of-mind” recommendation for writing a terrific LinkedIn profile is Chris Brogan’s “Write Your LinkedIn Profile for Your Future.”

Tip: Complete your profile—especially the “summary” and “specialties” section as employers and recruiters can search these fields by keyword. (One of my friends found a job this way—her employers found her!)

5. Getting “out there.” Last year, RiseSmart found that the average job seeker spends 50 hours a month or more online in pursuit of a job. Ever heard the oft quoted stat that 60-80% of job leads happen through networking? If you consider how many leads come from personal contacts and “face time,” spending hours online is not ideal. Several of the members of my job seekers group have found full-time work after taking on temp jobs, volunteering, and cold calling hiring managers in tandem with applying for jobs. There’s no substitute for a real voice connection or face time!

Tip: If you need to expand your network, join LinkedIn groups in your area of interest—and consider creating your own community of interesting people through Twitter. You can find people (and groups) to connect with via Twitter through Twellow, Wefollow and Listorious. As you can take LinkedIn and Twitter connections off-line, look at your online time as a springboard to meeting face-to-face!

6. “Hire me” campaigns can work, but only if there’s follow-up. From musical cover letters and sandwich boards to college graduates passing out resumes at stop lights, there’s no shortage of ingenuity in today’s labor pool. I’ve talked to many job seekers who’ve used the “clever approach” to get noticed. It often works, but once the 15 minutes of fame are up—employer attention often wanders as well.

Tip: If you use a “gimmick,” make sure you have a way to capture and follow-up on any contact information that you receive—from e-mail addresses to outreach received from others.

7. Maintain friendships. One of my clients landed a job this year after sending a thank you note to a firm that had rejected her (they reconsidered.) A college friend found a job over Facebook in six days. And over 1,000 job seekers found jobs through JobAngels—a grassroots movement where job seekers can receive individual help from volunteers. Staying in touch—and asking for help when you need it-- can take you a long way in your job search.

So, I was thinking about all the picks one either "has" to or "gets" to make in life. As I was busily working on a project over the weekend, I heard my son and his buddy talking about their Fantasy Football "picks." They spent several hours discussing the pros and cons of this player and that player and finally, it began to drive me a little nuts after listening to what I thought was the same conversation repeated 20 times. I mean, after all, make a pick and be done with it already! :)

Over the holiday, some of the family wanted to see Avatar and some wanted to see Up in the Air. As a team, we couldn't agree upon the same movie, so we each had to pick which one we wanted to see at the 1:15 show time. Picks. Make your pick.

The "make your pick" process applies to many things in life, including job and career choices. While you could train to be an auto mechanic by day and a lawyer by night (at some schools), many of us find ourselves needing to make a vocational "pick" sooner or later...you know, cut down the territory, whittle the choices, narrow the selection pool, and make a pros and cons spreadsheet of your "top picks." And sometimes, your pick proves to be an outstanding choice that delivers exactly what you had hoped for and expected. Other times, perhaps others will tell you that your pick "sucks" as my son and his buddy suggested about their individual Fantasy Football picks. In the end (and in the beginning), the final pick is up to you, and you alone.

In the UK, the 1980’s recession had a lasting impact on what remained of the dying Primary Sector industries - namely, coal mining and quarying. The recession wasn’t totally responsible for killing off the jobs in those sectors, but it did act as the catalyst which sped up the transition of workers from the primary sector to the manufacturing and service sectors.

The recession accelerated the structural changes already under way within the employment market and so, in time, created new opportunities and prosperity for workers in another sector.

The 1990’s recession hit the Secondary Sector (manufacturing) and became the catalyst for the loss of countless blue collar jobs and an acceleration in the shift in employment patterns from the manufacturing sector to the service based sector. The career transition and re-training of factory workers and colliery workers to become call centre workers in the North of England being a case in point.

Again, the recession didn’t cause the shift in employment patterns, but merely accelerated the trend. And over time, created improved working conditions, new opportunities and prosperity for most of the workers impacted.

Which explains why the vast majority of ‘displaced’ clients I’ve worked with this year have been highly educated professionals - namely bankers, lawyers, accountants, management consultants, surveyors, architects etc.

But the job losses we’ve seen in the last two years will, in my opinion, NOT be completely reversed once the recovery kicks in.

Instead what we’ll begin to see over the next 3-5 years is one of the biggest shifts in employment patterns in a decade. A shift, by the way, which was already under way. The recession has, like previous downturns, merely accelerated the shift and will (just like previous recessions) create new opportunities and more prosperity after the initial pain of the recession and job losses.

Specifically, I’ll stick my neck out and predict that we’ll see an acceleration in the following 3 shifts which will become the legacy of the 2008-09 recession:

1. A Shift To A More Transient And Flexible Work Force

Approximately 25% of the individual clients I’ve worked with in the last 2 years have transitioned from permanent work to contract / consulting / freelance roles. A desire for freedom, autonomy and flexible work being some of the key drivers. Along with the obvious need to be flexible in order to secure work in a challenging market place.

Having become much leaner, organisations will over the next few years operate with a smaller number of core, permanent employees whilst utilizing the talents of freelancers to work on specific projects in a flexible fashion. That’s the future of running a business in a highly globalized, technologised market so we better get used to it.

2. A Shift To The “4th Sector”

In previous recessions, employment patters have shifted to the next sequential sector. From primary to secondary. From secondary to tertiory.

What we’ll see in the next few years is the next shift as some (not all) professional white colour workers shift from the tertiory service based sector to the ‘Fourth Sector.’

Examples of the Fourth Sector include:

- The Green Economy

- Non-Profit sector

- Venture Philanthropy

- Social Enterprise

- Ethical organisations

- Micro Finance

- Sustainable Businesses

- Corporate Social Responsiblity

This once again reflects the changing expectations of individuals looking for a greater sense of meaning and purpose in their careers, whilst also reflecting the trend amongst organisations who recognise that ‘doing good’ makes commercial sense.

3. A Shift Towards The Arts, Design and Culture

We’ll also see a shift towards the arts, design and culture in the next few years within the developed economies of the world. This trend is synonymous with the increased wealth that comes with mature economies and societies.

The recession, rather than curb this trend - will in fact accelerate it as more and more individuals focus on what they really want to do, rather than what they ’should’ do.

Does that mean we’ll have droves of professionals changing careers to become dancers, singers, painters and designers?

Not quite.

What’s more likely is seeing elements of the arts, design and culture slot into people’s “portfolio career”

For example:

- A freelance accountant who also sings on stage professionally with a theatre company

- A corporate lawyer who does some freelance interior design work whilst also being a trustee for a major charity

- A management consultant that designs and sells home made jewellry from an online store

In my experience, the 3 elements often ‘missing’ from the careers and lives of many ‘middle class professionals’ in the west is:

1. Flexibility, autonomy, work-life balance

2. A sense of meaning or purpose

3. An outlet for creative expression

What’s interesting is that the 3 shifts mentioned above would actually create the environment to help people fill these 3 missing elements So as per previous recessions, the short term ‘pain’ felt by the work force could well lead on to greater progress and opportunities to build more satisfying careers and lifestyles.

So for all the talk about the negative aspects of the ‘Middle Class Recession’, the recent downturn may not be the curse it’s made out to be.

Instead it could well be the catalyst that transforms the careers of a generation of middle class professionals in much the same way that previous recessions have helped generations of miners and blue collar workers transform their careers and lives.

Traditionally, the holiday season is the most active networking time of year. During the next couple weeks is a terrific time to make new contacts and reestablish connections. The explosion of social media has dramatically impacted how we network 24/7/365. The mushrooming use of social networking means that even the “logistically-challenged” can’t excuse themselves from networking purposefully and establishing new strategic relationships at this time of year. In fact, the growing adoption of social media means that business professionals expect colleagues to be accessible via social networking sites.

The hidden job market is represented by existing but unadvertised or unannounced openings and positions created specifically in order to hire a particular individual. Insider contacts have the best access to the hidden job market. They are usually the ones to know about unexpected vacancies, restructurings, M & A’s, retirements, that generate new staffing requirements. Initiating and maintaining insider contacts is a good investment in your career. The payback is information about unadvertised positions and inside knowledge that you can leverage to seek a new opportunity as a preferred candidate.

While no one walks around with a sign announcing they are a prime connection to unadvertised positions or hidden job market opportunities, online research makes it convenient to identify individuals as potentially lucrative contacts based on their published affiliations. Employees, former employees, vendors, consultants, advisers, customers, etc. of companies on your target employer list can share leads to a new job before such openings are made official. Recommendations and referrals from your connections differentiate you, build trust, and provide a competitive advantage in a crowded field of qualified candidates.

During the holidays, there are many occasions to interact with family, friends, colleagues, and business contacts who may be aware of unadvertised jobs. The proliferation of virtual communities and electronic communications provides continuous contact, online visibility and inexpensive multimedia interactions through email, direct messages, IM’s, video chat, video sharing, discussion forums, blogging, blog comments, photo uploads, etc. It’s a natural time to initiate a new contact or to revive lapsed connections; conversations flow easily around familiar subjects like family celebrations and travel plans. People are more receptive to casual discussions with distant contacts and renewing old ties during holiday-related conversations. Follow up early in the New Year to have a more in depth exchange and explore mutual interests.

Yesterday is history ~ tomorrow a mystery ~ today is a gift ~ that's why we call it the present. ~ Babatunde Olatunji

My client and I were discussing gifts...the kind that you can't buy, you can't re-gift and you can't return. They're the kind of gifts that are found in your DNA, gifts that you're built with from birth, gifts you discover as life takes you upstream and downstream, gifts that your best buddy recognizes in you and you can't see in yourself...gifts that last a lifetime. In this season of gift-giving, perhaps there's no better time than now to consider your own distinct, unique and priceless gifts of:

G iving freely of what you've been given.

~ genius that lies within, waiting for you to notice

~ growing and constantly learning

~ gratitude for the abundance in your life

~ genuineness in your interactions with others.

Integrity in both action and word.

~ ideas and innovations in imagining a new and different future

~ investing in initiatives to improve the product, you

~ intellect, recognized and capitalized upon to serve an important purpose

~ intuition to guide you, gird you and guard you along the way.

F iguring out what you want to do.

~ finding a way to do it

~ facing fear in making career changes and choices

~ focusing until you cross the finish line

~ favoring courage and determination over fault and failure.

T rusting that you are on the right path, even though you have no clue where you're going, you just know you're en route.

~ tracking your performance and making course corrections as needed

~ taking time to complete each career step with commitment and care

~ teaching others what you know to make things easier or better for them

~ telling yourself that you can and showing tenacity as you do

S haring whatever it is you have to share because someone, somewhere may benefit.

~ seeking solutions and solving problems

~ shifting your perspective from what you don't have to what you do have

Crisis is a charity that runs centres each Christmas to provide London’s homeless people with food, shelter, entertainment and companionship through the Christmas period. In fact they ran the biggest ever volunteer event in the UK, with 9,000+ volunteers over a 10-day period.

I’d never done anything like this before but, having read about the record numbers of people becoming homeless last year due to the financial crisis, I thought I would volunteer my time on the 23rd and 24th December - after all it was just two days.

I was part of the “Learning and Skills” team of volunteerswho helped the homeless ‘clients’ improve specific skills such as literacy, numeracy, language skills, computer skills, artistic skills etc. Given my background, my main focus was to offer advice and help to people about finding work. After all, finding work and earning money has a knock-on effect on being homeless. Helping a homeless person find work could literary change their life.

But in reality, most people that come into the shelters are looking for a warm meal and people to chat to rather than for advice on how to improve their skills. So on Christmas Eve I found myself and a fellow volunteer (Carol), chatting to a homeless 60-year old Irish man over a cup of tea in the canteen of the school that was hosting the shelter.

Like most of the volunteers, we were intrigued to hear his story and find out “what happened” and how he became homeless. For Ronnie, his crisis began when he lost his job:

“I’ve spent my whole life in the building and construction industry - and I was doing well. In fact, just 12 months ago, I spent Christmas in the Carribean as 2007 had been such a good year. But then the property market collapsed with the economy, I lost my job and couldn’t find a new one.

I couldn’t keep up the rent payments and so I had to give up my apartment. So until I find a job and start earning, I’m now sleeping on the couch at the houses of friends or staying in hostels for homeless people. It’s amazing how much can change just in a year hey…?”

Carol and I didn’t know quite what to say. It was very sad seeing someone old enough to be your own father telling you about such a predicament. Especially when he seemed like just a ‘normal guy.’

I asked him how his search for work was going:

“I’m working hard to find work, but making little progress. All the things I used to do in the past no longer work: looking in the papers, visiting job centres, talking to friends and contacts, spending time in the pubs frequented by construction workers; none of that’s working.

But I know there are jobs out there because of the work going on in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics - new hotels, apartments and shopping centres are being built and there is construction going on and there is work. But I can’t seem to get to it.”

Having asked him some questions about the precise type of work he was searching for and the kind of money he needed to earn to get him back on his feet, I said:

“Ronnie, give us 30 minutes and we’ll try and see what we can do to help.Just come and find us in the learning and skills area where all the computers are in half an hour.”

As we walked away, Carol looked at me to say “Sital, it’s Christmas Eve and we know nothing about construction - so what are we going to magic up in 30 minutes?!?”

She was concious that we may be breaking one of the rules we’d been told about in our briefing as volunteers - not to make any promises to the clients that we could not keep. So understandably, she was worried I’d made a promise we couldn’t keep.

“Don’t worry Carol, there is always another way.” I said rather boldly.

Over the next 30 minutes, I spoke to a couple of contacts over the phone and got through to two recruiters from the construction industry willing to speak with Ronnie to offer him advice and help. Carol found and spoke with the recruitment agency handling the major chunk of the construction vacancies for the 2012 London Olympics project and got advice on the best way to apply for those roles. Plus we found 3 vacancies which were relevant to Ronnie advertised online - albeit not necessarily in the exact location he was looking for.

As agreed, Ronnie came to see us after 30 minutes to see what we’d found out and was understandably pleased to hear about the contacts and roles we had found.

As he left for the day, he shook my hand and said:

“Crisis? What Crisis…?!

So much can change in one year…… let’s hope this is the start of it for me! Thank you.”

It made my day. And in the process it taught me some lessons about dealing with any type of crisis - career or otherwise:

1. Don’t let your pride get in the way

Ronnie was a proud upstanding Irish man who had fallen on hard times. But he didn’t let his pride stop him coming to a homeless shelter for the first time in his life. He wasn’t too proud to let two strangers half his age offer their help.

How about you? Are you allowing others to help you or is your pride (or ego) getting in the way?

2. Be flexible and open-minded

While Ronnie was intent on working and living in London, I found what seemed like a perfect role in Sheffield (about 150 miles north of London). With no family ties in London and a much lower cost of living up in Sheffield, I convinced Ronnie that it was an option worth considering.

To his credit, he was open-minded and said “yes, let’s give it a go and apply. You never know where these things can lead you.”

What a great attitude. And that’s exactly the attitude you must have when faced with a crisis. Be open to different roles, opportunities, ideas and career options. They may not be what you originally wanted, but may lead to bigger and better things in the future.

3. Be willing to unlearn and re-learn to get ahead

Many of the jobs we found for Ronnie required him to have an email address and apply for jobs online. But despite the fact he had never touched a computer in his life, he agreed to let Carol teach him how to use a computer, the internet and set up an email account.

Regardless of the economic recovery, the world has completely changed in the last 24 months and you won’t be able just to go back to the way it used to be before the recession. You’ll need new ways of running a business, new ways to lead and engage teams, new ways of managing your career and new ways to approach job searching.

After all, if an old fashioned 60-year old construction worker is willing to push himself outside his comfort zone and learn new ways of doing things, what’s stopping you?

4. Count your blessings

Spending the two days at the homeless shelter last year was a great reality check for me. At a time when we’re worried about the economy whilst at the same time eating, partying and celebrating at Christmas, it was a sobering experience to see how fortunate most of us really are.

So whatever ‘crisis’ you may find yourself in, remember to count your blessings because it probably doesn’t compare to the challenges faced by many others - homeless or otherwise.

I don’t know what came of Ronnie after he left the shelter on Christmas Eve last year. For obvious reasons of safety, Crisis have strict rules on exchanging any personal details with the homeless clients and so I don’t know what happened next to him and how his job search went. But I do know that anyone willing to push themselves outside their comfort zone and learn new things, be open-minded and allow others to help them usually go a lot further in life than those that don’t - and I hope things did change for the better for him.

So if over the holiday season you find yourself stressing about your own ‘crisis’, do try to remember Ronnie’s story and his message. The career rut you’re stuck in, your flagging job search campaign or your financial woes may feel like a ‘crisis’, but often aren’t really. Neither is burning the Christmas lunch or the family row caused by Aunt Flossy on Christmas Day.

Just remember to wear a big smile and tell yourself, “So much can change in one year let’s hope this is the start of a change in fortune for me!”

And who knows, this time next year there’s every chance you’ll be sitting here saying: “Crisis? What Crisis?!”

(I'm volunteering with Crisis again this year on 23rd and 24th December before spending time with the family over Christmas.....so this will be my last post until after Christmas. So very best wishes for the festive season!)

Just read a cool article by Cali Yost on finding meaning in work and getting paid at the same time. The author talks about the thread of meaning that runs through her life and career. She also talks about the "encore careers" that many baby boomers are thinking about as they plan "retirement" that will combine making some money with some form of giving back to the community.

The core meaning she is talking about has a lot to do with our personal brand. It's hard to imagine delving deeply into our brand without encountering some foundational values that guide us in our lives and work. Questions to ask: What core commitments can be found in the way we have conducted the various jobs we have held? Do we want to retain that core meaning going forward? How will we do it?

She also talks about "job crafting" - where we shape the job we have to more closely align with the activities that create meaning for us. We all can try to do this. It means letting go as much as possible of parts of work that are not as authentic or on-brand and moving towards work that is more fulfilling and expresses more of who we really are.

As the new year approaches, I wish for all of us that we can move ever closer to a clearer expression of our brand in our lives and in our work. Happy New Year!

The holidays are here and it's a great time to catch up with friends near and far, a time to share news through those dreaded or beloved holiday letters, and a time to fret over the perfect gift for your mentor, co-worker, boss, special friend, or loved one, whether the gift is your homemade chocolate chip cookies, or something else. The holidays, a time to network, both personally and professionally, especially if you're looking for a new employment opportunity, and a time to reconnect with old friends and new. The holidays, such a special time to touch base, hang out and share a greeting or two. Speaking of sharing, recently I was invited to read one of my poems for a local holiday festival...it is titled On Friendship and I'd like to share it with you, Career Hub friends and readers, this holiday season; feel free to pass it along...

Check out Brian’s interview on NBC’s TODAY Show on December 3, which features a dream vacation on an Alpaca Ranch for the TODAY host! Whether your heart’s desire is to be a brew master, archeologist, choreographer, or spa owner, VocationVocations offers mentorships and on-site “working” vacations so you can test-drive that job you always yearned for.

Then read Brian’s book – it’s a goldmine! Of course it talks about the concept of vocationing and finding a mentor. But the chapters that really hit home with me were Fear (as in immobilizing you), Research (both “inside” you and “outside” in the world of work), and Action Plan (with a nifty chart encompassing issues such as Money, Logistics, and Relationships). These chapters would benefit any job-seeker and are a must-read.

Gaining clarity about the kind of job you really want, overcoming fears and obstacles, and devising a practical action plan are all important steps in the career transition process. Brian’s entertaining examples and stories, including his own admission that he had once been immobilized by fear himself, are encouraging and enlightening.

Give yourself permission to dream a bit this holiday season! You never know where it might lead…